


Team The Best Team

by enrai (tookumade)



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:07:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23141431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tookumade/pseuds/enrai
Summary: “Yeah, but you could makethatsuit”—Galo points excitedly at Lucia’s screen—“for me! Maybe you can modify it so it attaches to mine. You can do that, right?”Lucia’s first instinct is an “of course I can!” that she bites back. Because she probablycan, but… how much did this guy even know about piloting tech? Yes, he’s a skilled and resourceful firefighter, but he’s still a newbie to Burning Rescue. The machinery Lucia had built in the past year, he had probably only seen a fraction of in his whole lifetime.Lucia, Galo, and what it means to be tech support.
Relationships: Lucia Fex & Galo Thymos
Comments: 8
Kudos: 67





	Team The Best Team

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Spark of Hope zine!

The haze is strong this morning, and she can see the sun.  
  


* * *

  
Lucia hates this bar. The drinks are overpriced, it always smells bad, and it’s the favourite haunt of Freeze Force members—which explained the smells, actually. If she had her way, her squad wouldn’t be here, they’d be at _their_ favourite bar across town, but after today’s ceremony celebrating some award a bunch of Freeze Force bozos had received for valour or whatever the hell it was (she really, really hates this bar), here are some emergency service squads, gathered to show good will (and/or furtively roll their eyes at each other).

“It won’t take them long to get drunk,” Remi had said patiently as they headed towards the bar, “and then they won’t notice when we leave.”

“If someone touches my hair, I’m throwing them,” said Aina grumpily.

“I’ll be your back-up,” Varys offered.

It’s now been ten minutes since they arrived. In a corner of the bar, Lucia sips her drink, and, with nothing better to do, runs numbers in her head from diagnostics on the latest piece of mecha she has in the works. But she’s soon interrupted by some young guy in Freeze Force uniform sliding into the seat in front of her. 

“Heyyyyy, cutie,” he drawls. By his slurred words and red face, he’s pretty sloshed. “Ain’t seen ya on the field b’fore! Ya someone’s plus one?”

Lucia doesn’t bother hiding a displeased expression. “I’m from squad 3. I make and control the tech.”

“Ohhh, so ya _tech_ _support!_ ” he says, cackling loudly. “Y’ just… sit aroun’n let y’ team do all the work, don’cha!”

Lucia’s lip curls into a snarl, but before she can respond, a large hand claps down on his shoulder.

“Her tech is the reason squad 3 is the pride of Burning Rescue,” says Ignis’ deep voice. “Beat it, kid.”

Even when drunk, the young guy realises he doesn’t have much of a chance when he stands and the top of his head only just reaches Ignis’ shoulder. Grunting, he slinks away unsteadily.

“I could’ve handled him,” says Lucia.

“That’s why I sent him away,” says Ignis. “You really think I wanna deal with Vulcan storming into the station because you made his guy cry?”

“He works for Freeze Force; he deserves to cry,” says Lucia. “Can we go yet?”

“That’s why I came to get you. C’mon, time to get a proper dinner. My treat.”

Lucia springs up from her chair. “Now, _that’s_ what I like to hear!”

“The bit about leaving, getting a proper dinner, or me treating?”

“I’ll leave that for you to decide, Captain,” says Lucia sweetly as she follows him out. 

Around them, there’s yelling and the smashing of glass. A Freeze Force member goes flying over a table. Varys is cheering and clapping, and Remi is hastily shooing him out of the bar. Aina is right behind them, adjusting her ponytail delicately and striding like she’s on the catwalk.  
  


* * *

  
Two weeks later, Lucia is staring at her computer discontentedly. The detailed design of her latest mecha creation rotates slowly on her screen, untouched for the past hour. This one has a lot of potential and all the numbers promise speed and agility, but too much of it depends on the pilot, and—

“Whatcha doin’?”

Lucia starts violently at the sound of the voice behind her and whirls around, finding herself facing squad 3’s newest recruit. “ _Do not sneak up on me!_ ”

The new recruit—Galo Thymos—throws his hands up in front of him, half-apologetic and half-pacifying. “Sorry! I just—I saw that and I got curious.”

Lucia scowls at him, and he steps back. He does look like he feels bad, though, and she feels like an angry cat hissing at a puppy. She sighs and gestures for him to pull up a chair.

“Sorry, overreacted,” she says as he sits. “I’ve been staring at this for ages and getting nowhere. It’s frustrating.”

“What’s it for?” Galo leans in, squinting at the screen. “Don’t the vice captain and Varys already have suits?”

“Mm… Remi and Varys’ suits are designed for rescue, not combat. Not even defensive combat.” Lucia puts her hands behind her head and leans back, frowning. “If we ever have to go up against Mad Burnish, they can’t do much in a fight. Their tech has power, but they’re too slow.”

“You expect them to get into a fight?”

“I expect to be ready for anything,” says Lucia. “That’s why I designed this: a combat suit built for speed. It’s just… it’s a good idea, but it doesn’t work for Remi and Varys. They always need to carry people in transport units in our rescues, so they can’t just suddenly _drop them_ to switch suits.”

“What about me?”

“Hm? I’m already working on a suit for you focused on support, as per Captain’s request. We’ve been through this.”

“Yeah, but you could make _that suit_ ”—Galo points excitedly at Lucia’s screen—“for me! Maybe you can modify it so it attaches to mine. You can do that, right?”

Lucia’s first instinct is an “ _of course I can!_ ” that she bites back. Because she probably _can_ , but… how much did this guy even know about piloting tech? Yes, he’s a skilled and resourceful firefighter, but he’s still a newbie to Burning Rescue. The machinery Lucia had built in the past year, he had probably only seen a fraction of in his whole lifetime.

“Are you listening to me, rookie?” she says instead, exasperation cloaking the whisper of curiosity she’s not quite willing to indulge just yet.

“Yeah, I _am_ , but—” Galo shifts his chair around eagerly so he’s facing her. “Listen, I’ve worked with tech people, and usually, I barely even hear about the ideas they’ve scrapped ‘cos they think they won’t work. But you? You’re famous in Burning Rescue. _Everyone_ knows what you can do, even me! So if _you’re_ fixated on this, even though you think it’s no good? It means you have a lot of faith in it, right? It’s something you’re proud of, so why throw it away? Why not put it to use?”

“That—It—I’m—” Lucia splutters. It was like looking at the sun and trying to fend off sun rays with just her arms.

She was not used to people picking her apart so swiftly, and yet, she couldn’t deny a word. Regardless of whether people thought she was ‘tech support’ or something else, everyone in Burnish Rescue knew the names _Lucia_ and _Fex Industries_ , and she was proud of her work. In particular, this tech rotating on her screen—it was a damn fine piece of machinery. All she needed was a good pilot…

“I’m not _fixated_ ,” is all she can say.

“Is it ready? Built?” Galo bulldozes on. “Can we take it for a test run?”

“ _Jeez_ , rookie! Cool it for a second, okay? No, I haven’t built it. These things take time!”

When Galo doesn’t reply, she looks over at him and he raises his eyebrows at her hopefully, a grin spreading across his face.

And, despite everything, Lucia finds herself fighting hard to keep from smiling back. Galo’s enthusiasm is infectious. When was the last time someone had been so ready to take on her tech? “I’ll think about it, okay? I’ve got a lot of other work to do.”

Galo pumps a fist and whispers, “ _Yesssss!_ ” as if that was enough confirmation for him. Lucia shakes her head.

“You ever piloted before, rookie?”

“Yeah, all the time in training. My scores were great!” says Galo proudly. “Everyone always talks about your tech, so I’m keen to know more.” At this, Lucia feels an uncomfortable twist in her stomach, a familiar discontent.

“Look, rookie—” She pauses. “ _Galo_. I don’t do this for the fame, Galo. I do it because it’s my job. I’m tech support. That’s all.”

Galo tilts his head to the side, confused. “Why would you say that like it’s nothing?” 

“Huh?”

“You don’t have to be humble around me, you know. If you’re proud of your work, you should say so. Look at this—you designed this! And I know you’ve created so much amazing stuff over the years!”

“I’m not being _humble_. I really am just doing my job.”

“Hmm…?” Galo’s disbelieving sound makes her look up at him; his eyes are the same as when he’d so easily picked apart how much she wanted this tech to work. Galo is surprisingly intuitive. Lucia has to keep this in mind. She looks away and fiddles with a button on her lab coat.

“I don’t fight on the front lines,” she says, trying to sound matter-of-fact. “You firefighters are always risking your lives, but me? I get to sit safely in the Rescue Mobile, pressing buttons. So stuff like this is the least I can do.”

There’s silence for a while, before Galo folds his arms across his chest and hums thoughtfully. 

“You wouldn’t count on me to build mecha.”

Lucia fixes him with a blank look. “Come again?”

Galo nods. “Yeah, I’d be useless if you told me to build something like this. But ask me to run into a burning house to save someone? _That_ , I can do. And you? Maybe you can’t fireman-carry someone twice your size—wait, can you?” 

“No. No, I cannot.”

“But you do _everything_ else. You drive the Rescue Mobile and figure out the logistics, and while you’re doing that, the rest of us can focus on gearing up. And you made it _easy_ to gear up—everything works and fits together perfectly. I was watching Remi and Varys getting ready to go into that building the other day—”

“You were sulking ‘cos the Captain wouldn’t let you go.”

“—and I’ve never seen tech move like that before! So… maybe you are ‘tech support’ but what’s wrong with that? Squad 3 wouldn’t be able to function without you! And isn’t that one thing that makes a good team? When we all bring different skills to the table and work together to do something?”

It’s hard to look away from him, all bright-eyed and pushing past her doubt like it was a mere obstacle to step over, praise so earnest that Lucia couldn’t find an ulterior motive even if she tried. It’s harder still to describe the feeling welling up in her chest. Everyone she’s ever worked with, they all reassure her that her work is crucial, but Galo’s words construct themselves into a new form, building something Lucia feels like she’s starting to understand.

“Tech support,” Lucia murmurs. “Huh.”

Maybe there had been a tiny, incessant part of her that sought the glorious heroics of her teammates. But the heroes she knew seldom sought personal glory. And wasn’t she similar in that sense, creating things for the greater good and not for the money?

Maybe heroics wasn’t just about running headlong into danger—maybe heroics was also about keeping her teammates safe from her place behind the controls.

And maybe that was all the glory she needed.

She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly before looking over at Galo, who stares back curiously.

“You’ve still got your matoi, right?” Lucia says. “Let me see it; I’ve got some ideas to spruce up this tech.”

“What, right now?” Galo is already half standing.

“Duh.” Lucia grins. “If I’m gonna build this thing for you, I’ll need to start re-designing it right away.”

And Galo rockets off with a delighted whoop. “ _Be right back!_ ”

“Don’t take too long!” Lucia shouts. She leans forward in her chair, clever eyes tracing her tech’s current design, already envisioning the changes that needed to be made. She can’t help it—she’s getting excited, too. “We have a lot of work to do.”  
  


* * *

  
“So, what do you do?”

Lucia grins, bright.

“I’m tech support!” she says.  
  


* * *

  
The haze has gone this morning. The sky is as clear as ever.

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/naffnuffnice)


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